2025 A year in review
Murder, money and mayhem lead the year
Pierce County recorded three murders, found itself in the middle of a controversy over an “inappropriate” book display at the library and opposed a major bitcoin mining operation this year. The county also faced a major budget shortfall and millage increase and had a change in leadership at year’s end, though only one change came at the ballot box, while others occurred because of retirements.
There were triumphs with our PCHS cheerleaders, golf and tennis teams winning state championships and recreation team winning state championships. There were also tragedies as several residents lost their lives in traffic accidents.
These were among the biggest headlines in Pierce County in 2025.
The Times staff compiled a list of the top ten stories for this year including:
1) Three murders occurred, marking the most in recent history: Three Pierce County residents were murdered this year. Tristin Aspinwall was murdered off Big House Road May 18. Originally believed to have died in a traffic accident, investigators later determined the manner of Aspinwall’s death was a homicide. The case remains unsolved. Virgil Lester Chaney, 64, and Christ opher Levi Chaney, 37, died o f wounds they received in a shooting October 25. The father and son, were murdered at their home off Georgia Highway 121 in the St. Johns Community. Avery Courson, 30, was arrested shortly after the murders. No motive has ever been disclosed. Courson is being held in the Pierce County Jail, awaiting further judicial proceedings.
2) Library manager fired after ‘inappropriate’ book display: Pierce County Library Manager La-Vonnia Moore was dismissed following the display of a book that was deemed “inappropriate” for children. Moore and library staff reportedly posed for a photo with a display for the summer fun reading program. The display, allegedly developed by other library volunteers, included a book on transgender youth entitled When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff. The post was on the library’s Facebook page, but has since been taken down. A local group, the Alliance for Faith and Family, highlighted the post and circulated it asking concerned citizens to contact their county commissioners and local and regional library officials. Moore was terminated from her position by Three Rivers Library Director Jeremy Snell. Moore had been employed with the library system for 15 years. The story received widespread media coverage across the state and nationally. Moore notified the county and library system she is considering filing a lawsuit in connection with her dismissal. No suit has been filed to date, but the prospect of litigation around the controversy was discussed as late as a called regional library board meeting December 4.
3) Bitcoin mining operation voted down after community opposition: A proposed bitcoin mining operation in the Rehobeth Community led to two votes to deny a conditional use permit for its operation, galvanized hundreds of residents to attend several public hearings opposing the permit and now appears headed to court for a final decision on the issue.
Yizhou Su of LN8 Energy originally applied for the conditional use permit in November, 2024.
The proposed Pierce County operation would have storage facilities to house servers and would include a chiller supplied by a well on the property for cooling purposes.
The property is currently zoned as agriculture/ forestry. The conditional use permit would be required to convert the property to the digital mining operation.
Near unanimous public opposition over several public hearings to the conditional use permit led both the planning commission and the county commission to deny issuance of the permit in February of this year.
LN8 Energy, LLC, filed an appeal in March, but later withdrew that request before resubmitting it for a July hearing. Commissioners voted to deny the appeal, upholding their original denial of the permit. LN8 Energy, LLC then filed suit in August against Pierce County and the Pierce County Board of Commissioners in Pierce County Superior Court last week.
Su insisted he was given permission by the county to proceed with the project, only to later be told to stop and go through the planning and zoning department.
County officials contend Su never said he was developing a bitcoin mining operation.
Su said the bitcoin operation would provide a financial benefit to the county and would not cause noise or air pollution. He estimated LN8 would have paid up to $220,000 per year in sales taxes and up to $34,000 per year in ad valorem taxes.
A digital mining operation is part of the cryptocurrency industry. Cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, is a unit of money that is totally electronic and not backed up by government or banks. Digital currency uses a process called mining to secure its network and validate transactions.
4) County faces budget shortfall and approves 1 mill tax increase: Pierce County faced a $1.8 million budget shortfall and at one point, the prospect of having to increase its millage rate by up to two mills to cover the deficit. A series of public hearings drew hundreds of irate residents expressing anger about the budget and the millage rate increase. Commissioners finally agreed on a one mill increase in November, but delayed approving a proposed $16.55 million budget that called for using almost $1.6 million in reserves to balance. Commissioners continued to tweak the budget to cut spending. As December ended, the county approved a $16.45 million spending plan that will only use $300,000 in reserve spending.
5) Blackshear, Patterson get new councilmembers, new leadership in county city positions: Ray Douberly defeated Incumbent Jim Echols and the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) was renewed with 64 percent of the vote in the general election in November. There were two changes to the Blackshear City Council, but both were due to retirements. Pastor Mitch Hall will replace Chuck Ward in district three and Pastor Charles Broady will replace Theodore Mackey in district four. Ward and Mackey decided not to run again after single terms on the council. Blackshear Mayor Keith Brooks fended off a pair of challengers, Gena Harris and Marie Rainge, winning with 62 percent of the vote. There were other changes in local leadership as well. County Manager Raphel Maddox submitted his resignation in December after a little over two years on the job. Maddox was the first African American to hold the position. Former Clerk of Court Thomas Sauls was hired as interim manager to begin in January, 2026. Sauls will serve until a permanent county manager is hired. Patterson had two changes in January with the appointment of Laura Kate Dixon as the new city clerk and Tyler Stokes as the new public works superintendent and fire chief. Dixon replaced Tina White, who left to pursue other interests and Stokes replaced Stevie Sweat who had to take a medical retirement. County Extension Agent James Jacobs retired in November after 30 years of service, including 18 in Pierce County. Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Boggs of Pierce County stepped down from the bench in February following eight years of total service, including three as chief justice.
6) Zaxby’s and Waffle House coming to Pierce County among business developments: Plans for a new Zaxby’s restaurant on U.S. Highway 84 were announced in January. Developer Taylor Hawkins plans to build the new restaurant here, but construction has not started yet, after a delay due to permit and engineering issues. Hawkins says he is committed to building in Blackshear. In October, local attorney and retired state court judge Franklin Rozier Jr. and his brother, Mike, have both told The Times they have sold a tract of property on U.S. Highway 84 to a development company for a Waffle House restaurant.
Lindsay Thomas with the Pierce County Planning Commission also confirmed that building permits have been secured for a restaurant at that location.
However, Kelly Bruner with the Waffle House media department did not confirm or deny plans for a restaurant locally.
The prospective restaurant property is located adjacent to McDonald’s on U.S. Highway 84 near the courthouse intersection with Georgia Highway 15/121 (Main and Gordon Streets).
Two local banks also experienced changes in 2025. First Southern Bank built and opened a new branch in Blackshear and transitioned the Patterson Branch to a limited service bank. In November, First Southern Bank announced it had been sold to Community First Credit Union of Florida.
The banks jointly announced the deal, which will be finalized in the spring or summer of 2026, pending federal regulatory approval. The announcement was made last week. The First Bank (formerly Heritage Bank and Peoples Bank on Main Street) announced in April it would merge with Renasant Bank and the transition was completed during the year. In other business related passages, Farr's Fine Furniture liquidated its assets and closed after 50 years in business. The Marion Hotel, long a local landmark along the railroad in Blackshear, was razed. The Historic Pierce County Court House survived a lightning strike, though fire retardant was dispersed through the building, requiring the facility to be closed for several days. During the year, the City of Blackshear created a new downtown development authority to help with economic development. The local landscape changed dramatically in January with a rare snow storm. Some parts of the county received over three inches of snow, the most significant storm in recent history.
7) Accidents claim lives on roadways, water: There were several tragedies during the year on Pierce County roadways a n d on the Satilla. Two bicyclists were killed during the year. Jennifer Harrington, 53, died in a March 22 hit and run on Cason Road near Tuten Lane. Carlos Espana was arrested later that day and charged with hit and run and homicide by vehicle in the case. In November, Alonzo Giron Guzman, 28, was fatally injured after he was struck by a truck while riding his bicycle on U.S. Highway 84 near the Farr’s Community. Guzman was reportedly attempting to cross the busy four-lane to Oak Ridge Circle when he was struck by a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck driven by Kimberly Beckworth, 57, of Baxley. She was not injured. No charges were filed. Malcolm O'Hara of Waycross drowned in the Satilla River in the Yellow Bluff area April 6.
O’Hara was reportedly with a group of friends at the river when he went under the water and did not resurface.
Anthony Gerald Walker died of injuries he sustained in a two-vehicle wreck on U.S. Highway 84 near Lairsey Crossing June 28.
A Waycross couple died of injuries received in a car/bus accident Nov. 10 at the intersection of Ware Street Extension and Meadow Wood Road in Pierce County.
Lu Ann Jenkins, 70, died shortly after the accident in the emergency room at Memorial Satilla Health in Waycross. Her husband, David Jenkins, 68, died of his injuries in a Jacksonville, FL trauma center Nov. 21.
The driver and two students were on board the bus at the time of the accident. No one on the bus was injured in the accident.
Another family received closure this year. A missing persons case from December, 2024, ended in April when the body of Brad Crews was found in a pond in Offerman. Foul play is not suspected.
8) Mobleys, Tiner plead guilty as other cases are pending: A husband and wife were both sentenced to life in prison in what the j u d g e called “one of the worst” cases of child molestation he had seen. Robert Michael Mobley entered a guilty plea in September. His wife, Alisa Mobley, opted to go to trial with her case. A jury deliberated for just 27 minutes at the October trial before returning with a guilty verdict. The Mobleys are accused of molesting three family members, all under the age of 12, over a period of at least a year. The case dates back to November, 2023.
Cody Lee Tiner was sentenced in December to 83 years with 75 to serve in prison for double vehicular homicide in the 2024 deaths of Midway Elementary student Hadleigh Lee and a nine-monthold infant, Loralei Golden.
Tiner, 36, entered a guilty plea to all charges in Ware Superior Court.
The sentence is the maximum allowed under the law.
Tiner was fleeing from law enforcement when he hit a vehicle driven by Lee’s father. The family had been to an event at the fairgrounds and were babysitting the Golden infant when Tiner struck them at the Hatcher Point Road intersection. Tiner had a prior record for driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs.
Tracy Lee Bryant Sr., 53, and Tracy Lee Bryant Jr., 30, both of Waycross, were indicted in February for the October, 2024 murder of Kimberly Guess, 34, of Blackshear. The grand jury returned true bills and indicted both men for felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Bryant Jr. was additionally indicted for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Bryant Sr. is accused of shooting Guess multiple times between 5-5:30 a.m. the morning of Thursday, October 17.
Bryant Jr. is accused of intentionally aiding and abetting his father in the murder.
Both men were arrested in December, 2024.
Local realtors Dustin Sauls and Cierra Chancey were arrested in May in connection with an Appling County case that resulted in the 2022 death of their six-month-old daughter, Madi, and on drug charges in Pierce County. The couple pled guilty on the drug charges in Pierce County in August, but still face charges in Appling County for concealing a death.
Kristin Ansleigh Godwin, 38, was arrested. in December in connection with the theft of funds from the Pierce County High School Competition Cheer Booster Program.
She has been charged with one count of felony theft by taking.
Investigators determined that approximately $10,000 in privately raised booster funds had been unlawfully taken. These funds were raised through booster club activities and did not involve any public or taxpayer money.
The Pierce County Grand Jury declined in November to return a “true bill” indictment for homicide by vehicle in the May, 2024, death of Logan Sharpe. Sharpe, 7, of Patterson was struck and killed on Tyre Bridge Road.
The Grand Jury determined there was not enough evidence to charge Dalton Cason in the case.
9) Recreation board unveils plans for new recreation complex, other community projects planned: The Pierce County Recreation Board unveiled plans for a new complex and renovations at Ware Street this past June, but the cost estimate was a whopping $17.86 million. The board is trying to reduce that amount to around $6 million. The SPLOST proceeds will fund about $3.4 million, meaning the county will need to find a way to finance the rest. Patterson opened a new veterans museum. The recreation complex was among several public projects this year. The county continued discussions for a new 911 center, even as dispatching issues came to light during the year. Patterson purchased the old Georgia Forestry Commission location for its public works project. Plans for a proposed Waycross Perimeter Road (bypass) were resurrected, but seem uncertain in the face of local opposition at the end of the year. Road projects are underway at Oak Ridge, Whitney Lakes and U.S. Highway 84 at the high school. Speed bumps were installed in Patterson. Blackshear bought a new fire truck.
10) Several state champions, two all stars and centenarians are honored locally: Pierce County had several state champions in sports this year. The competition cheerleaders, Lady Bears golf and Bears tennis teams at the high school won state championships. In recreation, the 8U football and 8U volleyball and Dathan Thornton in discus all won state championships. The 4-H BB and air rifle teams also won state championships as did the FFA junior forestry team. Will Gillis and Landon Hayes attended the 2025 Miracle League All Star game held in St. Louis, MO. Patterson native Naomi Washington Whitehead became the oldest living American at 115 and Blackshear resident Robert Westberry celebrated his 103rd birthday this year. Pierce County High School ranked number one in the state by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement.
The ranking is based on a graduation rate of nearly 96 percent and student performance on Georgia’s End-of-Course assessments, placing the school third overall in the state for End-of-Course (EOC) exams.
Three Pierce County Schools were recognized as 2025 Georgia Title 1 Distinguished Schools this year. Midway and Patterson Elementary both earned the honor for a second straight year and are joined this year by Pierce County Middle School. Three schools in one system being selected for the recognition is very rare. The schools were selected from among the 2,000 schools in the state. The Distinguished School honor is given to those schools that rank in the top five percent among elementary schools in the state based on its College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) scores.
Pierce County also had a new AMVets chapter chartered this year.
The Blackshear Times received the award for general excellence, the top award in the state, at the annual Georgia Press Association Convention in June.
